As a high-speed box-office hit, Twilight reached nearly $300 million domestically and over $550 million worldwide after just three weekends, making it the biggest success of the 2010 holiday season—especially with Harry Potter's latest release still a week away. The film's huge popularity skyrocketed not only the leads but also several supporting actors to overnight fame.
Liam Hemsworth, Nina Dobrev, Lily Collins, and Taylor Lautner, who played the werewolf, all shone with such star quality that they appeared destined for stardom.
With Twilight's success over three blockbuster films, an inevitable outcome emerged: the main actors' salaries would need to be adjusted. In the first film, all actors had been capped at under $500,000, with Matthew securing them in long-term contracts, giving him strong leverage in later salary negotiations. By the third film, Eclipse, Liam Hemsworth and Nina Dobrev had the highest salaries, each earning $5 million per film.
A raise was inevitable, despite the long-term contracts.
Matthew had been aware of this from the start, so after yet another performance of rhythmic gymnastics by Nina Dobrev, who played Isabella, he assured her of a raise. Of course, the exact amount would depend on negotiation.
Soon after the release of Eclipse, Matthew instructed Bella Anderson and Shawn Daniel to begin tough negotiations with the agents of all the key actors. Raises would be granted, but the amounts wouldn't necessarily cater to the actors' expectations.
Negotiation is about compromise, and Matthew wasn't unreasonable; after all, if he expected the cast to work hard, he had to give them incentives.
After two weeks of intense negotiations, they secured contracts with all main actors.
Nina Dobrev and Liam Hemsworth reached the first-tier salary level. Their agents initially requested $15 million plus about 7% of box-office earnings, but Matthew's team only offered $8 million. In the final deal, Nina Dobrev and Liam Hemsworth each received $10 million plus 5% of the box-office profits.
At this stage, replacing the main cast in the Twilight series was unrealistic, and allowing the primary team to benefit would also keep motivation high. Bella Anderson and Shawn Daniel managed to negotiate a profit-share structure based on net profits rather than total revenue, which was a significant concession.
The second-tier pay went to Lily Collins and Taylor Lautner, each receiving $8 million.
Other cast members also saw increases in their fees.
In any movie franchise, the sequel's budget tends to balloon due to cast salaries, and Twilight was no exception. With substantial salary increases for the primary cast, the production budget for the two-part Breaking Dawn shot up from Eclipse's $65 million per film to $100 million each. These two installments would have a combined production cost of $200 million, making it one of the most ambitious mid-tier projects.
Of course, these young stars were exceptionally popular, but their high paychecks were mostly tied to the Twilight series. Once separated from this franchise—much like the "Golden Trio" after Harry Potter—their pay would likely be halved. The reality was that none of them had yet proven their ability to lead a successful non-franchise film.
This pattern wasn't exclusive to new stars; many actors were heavily reliant on sequels. For instance, if Daniel Craig continued with the Bond franchise under director Sam Mendes, he could potentially enter the "$20 million club." However, outside of Bond, his paycheck would drop significantly to around $5 million.
For emerging stars, series films provided the fastest route to stardom. However, once a series ended, successfully transitioning to new roles and career stages required careful planning and thought. Otherwise, they risked remaining "single-role" stars, as seen with even the most versatile actors, like Johnny Depp, who had struggled with similar constraints.
With the contracts settled and the initial funds deposited in the production's third-party account, the Twilight series was officially back on track.
Just as Matthew finished up, Twilight's original author, Stephenie Meyer, reached out.
This former housewife-turned-phenomenon in young adult fiction wanted to discuss a new collaboration.
"The Host?" Matthew looked over the slim novel Stephenie Meyer had brought him. "I remember you published this one a few years back."
As a business partner, he had some understanding of Stephenie Meyer's body of work.
Stephenie Meyer, dressed in her signature fiery red suit, looked like a blazing torch. It seemed only someone with her passionate spirit could write such intensely romantic novels.
"Yes," she said with a smile. "I published it in 2008, writing it alongside the Twilight series as a standalone."
Matthew nodded thoughtfully. "You want to adapt it into a movie?"
Stephenie Meyer didn't deny it. "We've had a successful collaboration so far. I think we can keep working together. If the film adaptation does well, I might expand The Host into a trilogy."
Stephenie Meyer was no longer the modest housewife she once was; her recent success had filled her with confidence.
She didn't press further and simply waited for Matthew's response.
"Well, Ms. Meyer," he replied, cautious about jumping to conclusions. "Let me read the novel first, and I'll get back to you in a few days."
"That's fine." Stephenie Meyer left shortly after.
Given Twilight's success, Matthew read The Host the same day. Much like Twilight, it centered on themes of love and emotional turmoil, though the protagonist wasn't fully human.
In fact, it was yet another love triangle.
The story was set in the near future.
At that time, Earth had been invaded by an alien species called "souls," which resembled silvery centipedes. These creatures gradually erased human personalities by embedding themselves within the human nervous system, controlling, and ultimately replacing human minds while living in human bodies.
They used controlled humans as "hunters" to capture the remaining free humans.
The protagonist is a host to one of these souls, who quickly learns that living inside a human comes with unexpected challenges—namely, intense emotions and vivid memories. Yet the host can't suppress her own feelings and memories of the man she loves. Reluctantly, the alien agrees to find a man unknown to the protagonist to help her forget him. Facing external pressures, the two are forced to cooperate, eventually setting out to find a man they both love.
The romantic drama played out similarly to Twilight.
Twilight was essentially a dramatic love triangle with a werewolf-vampire fantasy twist, while The Host was a dramatic love triangle wrapped in a sci-fi setting.
But after reading The Host, Matthew felt uneasy—not about the drama but about the concept of alien parasitism.
The notion itself was spine-chilling.
If adapted into a horror or pure sci-fi movie, the disturbing element would be fine, but turning it into a romantic film? That just seemed unsettling.
How could viewers feel immersed in that?
Matthew's extensive experience with diverse projects had given him enough insight to make judgment calls, and his instincts told him that The Host wouldn't perform well as a film. The novel's core structure presented innate issues, likely to turn off most audiences.
The idea of adapting The Host as a horror or sci-fi film crossed his mind, but he dismissed it as a doomed concept. Turning Stephenie Meyer's melodramatic love story into a different genre would likely flop, and creating an original would be a safer bet.
He also did some background research.
Though The Host had been published in 2008, it hadn't gained much traction. By 2009, Stephenie Meyer's name was globally recognized, yet The Host remained relatively obscure.
Moreover, the market was another essential factor.
Twilight had elevated romantic melodrama to an unprecedented height, but peaks are often followed by valleys.
The Host wasn't comparable to The Hunger Games, whose appeal extended beyond melodramatic romance.
Perhaps The Host could work as a small indie film, attracting a niche audience fond of dark romance, but after speaking with Stephenie Meyer, he shelved the idea. She was no longer the housewife who could accept a modest budget, and she made it clear that the production budget had to be no less than $50 million.
Matthew politely declined The Host.
As 2010 drew to a close and 2011 approached, the G.I. Joe 2 production was still on hiatus, so Matthew kept himself busy, paying occasional attention to the ongoing awards season in North America.
A heavyweight film was dominating the awards circuit, with its sights set firmly on an Oscar for Best Actress.
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